Fire Danger Raised to High for Missoula County

Fire managers from throughout Missoula county met on Monday, July 8 and raised the county's fire danger level.

"Even though it was raining on us at the time of the meeting, we did have some discussion about fire danger," said Fire Prevention Coordinator, Cindy Super. "We do still have several resources that are around the state or outside of the state helping with fire and so, given the weather and the expected weather this week, the decision was made to increase the fire danger to high."

The increased fire danger means more firefighting personnel will be kept in Missoula county, it also means the public needs to take extra precautions.

"Hey it's summer, it's July, it's fire season in Montana and we just need to make sure that people are being careful, and making sure their campfires are out," said Super. "They are still allowed to have campfires right now, that hasn't changed, you just need to make sure you pour water on it and and stir it around to make sure the fire is out before you leave."

This year, a high fire danger level comes almost exactly one week earlier than it did last year.